guilt

guilt

(gĭlt)

n.

1.

a. The fact of being responsible for the commission of an offense; moral culpability: The investigation uncovered the suspect's guilt.

b. Law The fact of having been found to have violated a criminal law; legal culpability: The jury's job is to determine the defendant's guilt or innocence.

c. Responsibility for a mistake or error: The guilt for the book's many typos lies with the editor.

2. Remorseful awareness of having done something wrong or violating a rule: Do you feel any guilt for forgetting my birthday? The dieter felt guilt for snacking between meals.

tr.v. guilted, guilting, guilts

1. To make or try to make (someone) feel guilty: My roommate guilted me for forgetting to wash the dishes.

2. To cause (someone) to do something by arousing feelings of guilt: My roommate guilted me into washing the dishes.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

guilt

Psychiatry Emotion resulting from doing what one perceives of as wrong, thereby violating superego precepts; results in feelings of worthlessness and at times the need for punishment. See Shame.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

guilt

A state of distress usually caused by the belief that one has contravened accepted moral, ethical, religious or legal standards of behaviour. Early conditioning in such matters remains powerful throughout life and guilt may be experienced even when early precepts have been long-since been abandoned as illogical. A deep, and seemingly inappropriate, sense of guilt is often a feature of psychiatric disorder.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005